Receptacle closure and method of manufacture thereof



Feb. 12, 1935. A. L. MEROLLE 1,990,744

R-ECEPTACLE'CLOSURE AND METHOD QF MANUFACTURE THEREOF Original Filed Sept. 30, 1932 Tr:- 374 9 1 H INVEQNTOR flugu,siu,sl.jdemlle.

} in om Patented Feb. 12, 1935 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RECEPTACLE 'CLOSURE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF Augustus L. Merolle, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor of one-half to Empire Metal Cap 00., Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application September 30, 1932, Serial No. 635,586. Divided and this application June 14,1934, Serial No. 730,608

8 Claims. (Cl. 113-121) undesirable distortion and for providing interiorly extending lugs of great strength and of ently for better accommodating themselves to the thread lugs of the receptacle and for increasing, the frictional engagement between themselves and the thread lugs of the receptacle incident to the continuedapplication of force rotating the closure into closing position upon the receptacle.

, 3 A further object is tozprovide an improved method by which to secure interior thread lugs 'of' the desired prominence and strength.

And a further object is to provide an improved method by which to secure strong and prominent interior thread lugs in a closure which displays no exterior evidence of the presence or location of the lugs.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific than. those referred to above, vwill be in part obvious and in part pointed out in the course of the following description of the elements, combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principles constituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplated will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing which is to be taken as a part of this specification, and in which I have shown merely a preferred form of embodiment of the invention:-

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view through a closure constructed in accordance with this invention and showing the same as it appears in closing position upon a receptacle.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view ample prominence to efficiently co-operate' taken substantially upon the plane of line 11-11 ,of Fig. 1 and illustrating one of the thread lugs of the closure as it appears from within the closure.

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are fragmentary sectional 5 views illustrating the steps followed in the production of the closure having the thread lugs illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are horizontal sectional views taken respectively upon the planes of line'VIL 10 VII, VIII-VIII, and IX-IX of Figs. 1, 5 and 6 for additionally illustrating the steps of procedure shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

Referring to the drawing for describing in detail the structure which is illustrated therein, 15

.the reference character L indicates the -receptacle, while the reference character G indicates the closure within which may, if desired, be positioned a suitable liner or gasket element H in the usual position for resting over the upper open end of the receptacle.-

The receptacle may be made of glass or other suitable material and may be formed with a smooth rounded annular head as l exteriorly thereof spaced downwardly from the upper end surface 2. It is provided with a suitable number of thread lugs .as 3'3 also exteriorly in the space above the bead 1. 4

The thread lugs 3-3 are suitably spaced, as v at 4, to provide for the entrance betweenthem of the thread lug portions as'5--5 which. are provided upon the closure projecting interiorly thereof.

The under-surfaces as 88 of the thread lugs 3 are inclined thread-like in the general manner as common to receptacles and closures of this type, being each adapted to be slidingly engaged by one of the lugs 5 of the closure so 'as to cause the closure to be moved into a full closing position usually by something less-than a one-quarter rotation of the closure.

The under-surfaces 8 of the thread lugs 3-3 extend downwardly into such close proximity with the upper surface of the head 1 that when the closure is being rotated to scaling position 'the thread lugs 5 will become wedged in opposing surface contact between said under-surfaces 8 and the adjacent upper surface portions of the bead.

The lower end portions of each of the surfaces'8,that is approximately between the points indicated X and Y Fig. 1 of the drawing, is almost, but not quite, parallel rotatiyely with the upper surface of the bead 1,-the.degree of inclination of said portions XY being considerably 66 movement will be reduced and the power of the downward pull per unitof power applied to rotate the closure will be correspondingly increased due to the increasing cam power incident to the almost horizontal relationship of the portions X and Y.

If a gasket, as H, be employed between the closure and the upper surface of the receptacle said gasket may be easily crushed into sealing engagement with the receptacle by the application of only a slight degree of force rotating the closure during its last stages of movement to sealing position.

The nearly parallel relationship between the portions XY and the upper surface of the bead 1 produces acute wedge shaped pockets, as 6, between said portions and the adjacent upper surface portions of the bead into which the thread lugs 5 of the closure may be forced and wedged to provide suitable frictional engagement between upper and lower surface portions of the lugs on one hand and the surfaces X-Y and the bead on the other to efliciently hold the closure in full sealing position.

The closure G is made up of a single piece of sheet material, usually thin 'sheet metal, such as commercial tin or the like, stamped, pressed, or otherwise formed into its completed shape. It consists of a top wall portion 9 and a marginal flange or skirt portion 10 bent downwardly from the margin of the top wall 9. At the lower annular edge of the side wall or flange 10 the material thereof is rolled inwardly upon itself to form an inturned wire edge as at 11, said wire edge being preferably closed on its upper side within the closure as at 12 so that the raw edge of the metal is concealed and protected within said wire edge, that is to say that the portion of the material as 13 which is turned upwardly within the closure is spaced away from the inner wall surface of the closure and constitutes an inner wall part of appreciable dimensions and strength inwardly of the main wall or skirt 10 and connected therewith by the curved bottom portion 14 continuously throughout the circumference of the closure, said wall portions 12, 13 and 14 adding great strength and stiffness to the lower edge portion of the wall 10 and to the closure in general.

The wire edge structure 11 is preferably of a cross section relatively higher than wide so that the wall portion 11 thereof extends substantially vertically within the closure a relatively greater distance than the horizontal distance between itself and the outer wall 10. As a result of this arrangement the top and bottom wall portions 12 and 14 are given great strength even though the material employed in the manufacture of the closure may be of unusual thinness. At the same time this form of the wire edge of course surface portions 8 of the thread lugs and the uppersurface of the bead 1 of the receptacle as hereinabove referred to.

'The circle defined within the closure by the inner surface of the wall portion 13 is of a diameter approximately corresponding with the diameter of the circle defined by the outer annular surfaces of the thread lugs 3 of the receptacle, or slightly larger so as to just fit loosely about said thread lugs 3 when the closure isbeing moved onto or oil of the receptacle.

Since the wall portion 13 fits fairly closely about the thread lugs of the receptacle, it follows that the outside diameter of the closure for a given size of receptacle depends upon the spacing of the skirt 10 outwardly from the wall portion 13, and this may of course be varied to,any desired extent.

The method of procedure proposed herein for producing the lugs 5 from said wire edge structure is clearly indicated in the drawing Figs. 3 to 9, and consists essentially of the following steps: I

First, the lower annular edge portion as 15 of the side wall or skirt 10 is curled or bent w of substantially uniform circular cross section I throughout the entire circumference of the closure.

Second, pressure is applied vertically against portions of the circular wire edge 16 at spaced points circumferentially of the closure where the 3 lugs 5 are desired, said pressure operating to 'mash said portions of the circular wire edge vertically inwardly from its circular form to a somewhat elliptical form in which parts of the inner annular wall surface of the head are caused to buckle and protrude beyond its normal position and radially inwardly toward the center of the closure, as clearly indicated at 17 17 Figs. 5 and 8, and

Third, pressure is applied in a horizontal direction against the portions 18 of the circular wire edge 16 lying in the spaces between the vertically pressed portions 17, this application of pressure operating to mash said portions 18 of the circular wire edge horizontally out of its circular form to a vertically elongated form in which the inner annular wall portions of the bead stand radially outwardly beyond their normal positions and hence further from the center of the closure than before-thereby enlarging the circle defined collectively by said portions 18 and at the same time increasing the prominence of the lugs 5, as clearly indicated in Figs. 6 and 9.

In applying pressure vertically to crush the wire edge as in Figs. 5 and 8 the tools employed therefor are preferably so shaped that the upper surface portion as 19 of the completed lug, as illustrated in Fig. 2, will be inclined to correspond approximately with the inclination of the portions X Y of the thread lugs of the receptacle.

The steps numbered Second and Third above may obviously be performed simultaneously, or in either order,.as may be desired.

It will be observed that the completed thread lugs 5 formed as herein shown and describzd each consist of an upper wall part 20 and a lower wall part 21 so connected together that they are capable of resilient movement with respect to,-each'o'ther in use. The upper wall part merges into and is strongly bonded with the inner wall. portion 11 and the top wall por-, tion 12 of the wire edge so thatsaid portion 20 is .re-inforced and the resilient movement thereof is prevented from being too soft or easy veven though extremely thin sheet metal be employed in themanufacture of the closure. And. the bottom wall part 21 merges into and strongly bonded with the bottom wall 14 and theouter wall or skirt 10 so that said portion 21 is also re-inforced and the resilient movement thereof isprevented from being too soft or easy even though extremely thin sheet metal be employed in the manufacture of the closure.

Nevertheless the wall portions 20 and 21 are not toostiff to preclude adesirable yielding movement of either or both thereof when forced into engagement with the thread lugs of the receptacle or with the bead l of the receptacle, or with both, as the case may be.

The thread lugs produced by the method herein set forth are what may be correctly defined as double-prominence lugs. Their first degree of prominence is that which is given them. when they are first produced, for instancethat which ,results from the vertical crushing of the wire edge, and their second degree of prominence is that which is given them, for instance, by the pushing back of the adjacent intermediate portions of the wire edge.

The completed lug is of greater prominence, that is it protrudes radially inwardly of the closure, a greater distance than would be possible by either of these steps alone. I

As many changes could be made in this construction without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims,

it is intended that all matter contained in the above description, orshownin the accompanying drawing, shall be interpreted as illustrative only and npt in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. The herein described method of producing a receptacle closure havingthread lugs project ing inwardly thereof, which method consists in providing av member having an annular skirt portion, forming a roll of the material at'the lower edge of said skirt, spreading the roll radially inwardly ,of the closure at points spaced circumferentially of the closure so as to form inwardly extending projections at the said points and moving the inner annular surface of said' roll radially outwardly of the closure in the spaces between the said projections whereby the radial inward extent of the projections is increased.

2 The herein described method of producing a receptacle closure having thread lugs projecting inwardly thereof, which method consists in first providinga piece of sheet material having a downwardly projecting marginal flange there.-

- on, bending up the lower edge portion of said -fiange.interiorly of the closure to form an inturned wire edge upon said flange said wire edge being of substantially circular contour in cross section, applying pressure against the top and bottom wall portions of said wire edge in a generally vertical direction at intervals circumferentially of, the closure to causeportions of said wire edge to be crushed vertically toward each other and provide projections protruding inwardly beyond the normal circular wire edge, and applying pressure against the radially inner and outer wall portions of said wire edge throughout the circular length of the spaces intermediate said projections in a generally horizontal direction to cause the inner wall portion of said intermediate parts of the wire edge to be bent radially outwardly toward the outer wall portion of said wire edge without materially altering the position of said projections with respect to said outer wall portion of said wire edge but thereby causing said projections to extend relatively further inwardly of the inner wall portion of said wire edge in the completed closure.

3. The herein described method of producing a sheet metal receptacle closure having thread consists in providing a piece of sheet metal having an annular skirt portion, rolling inwardly and upwardly the metal at the lower edge of the skirt to form an annular hollow roll interiorly of said skirt, bending the upper portion of the roll toward its lower portion at points spaced circumferentially of the closure while maintainingthe shape of the lower portion of the roll where it joins the skirt thereby causing the roll to be spread to form projections .closely adjacent the lowermost extremity of the closure and extending radially inwardly of the .closure at the said points and moving the inner annular wall of the roll 'in the space between the said projections radially outwardly of'the closure and nearer to the skirt.

4, A sheet metal receptacle closure having a top portion and a 'skirt portion, the skirt portion being turned inwardly and upwardly at its lowor end to provide an inner wall at the lower margin of the closure extending entirely around the circumference of the closure, said wall being other spaced points in th circumference of the I closure to provide clearance for partsof the receptacle, 'the radial cross section of the last said bentwall portions being oblong with its major axis extending along said skirt.

5. A sheet metal receptacle closure having a top portion anda skirt portion; the skirt por-' tion being turned inwardly and upwardly at its lower end to provide an inner wall at-the lower margin of the closure extending entirely around the circumference of the closure, said wall being pressed downwardly from its upper edge at spaced points in the circumference of the closure and being thereby bulged inwardly of its initial position radially toward the center of the closure to provide thread lugs at said points, said wall being bent outwardly of its initial position radially away from the center of the closure at other spaced points in the circumference of the closure to provide clearance for parts of the receptacle, and said wall in the region between the thread lugs having its upper annular edge portion turned down uponitself and sandwiched between said wall and the inner surface of the skirt; 7

6. A receptacle closure formed from a single piece of sheet material bent to provide a top wall portion and a pendant 'marginal wall portion, the lower part of said marginal wall portion being turned inwardly upon itself toprovide an inturned wire edge upon said marginal wall portion, said inturned wire edge comprising an inner wall member spaced inwardly from the inner surface of said marginal wall portion but having relatively greater vertical height than the inward spacing thereof so that said wire edge is of greater height than width in cross section, the upper portion of said wire edge being bent downwardly at spaced intervals circumferentially of the closure while the lowermost portion thereof remains substantially constant throughout the circumference of the 010- sure and presents a uniform exterior surface at the lower edge of the marginal wall, and said inner wall member being bulged in consequence of the downward bending of the upper portion of the wire edge at said intervals so as to provide thread lugs projecting inwardly of the closure at a location nearer to the lower margin of the wire edge than to the upper margin thereof.

7. A receptacle closure formed from a single piece of sheet material bent to provide a top wall portion and a pendant marginal wall portion, the lower part of said marginal wall portion being turned inwardly uponitself to provide an inturned wire edge upon said marginal wall portion extending entirely around the cir-.

cumference of the closure, said wire edge at spaced localities in the circumference of the closure being crushed in a horizontal direction so that it is of greater height than width in cross section at said localities, but said wire edge at other localities circumferentially of the closure being crushed in a vertical direction 'so that at these latter localities it is of greater width than height, whereby thread lugs are provided at said A latter localities, the outer wall of the wire edge radially of the closure consisting of the lower annular portion of the marginal wall and presenting a substantially uniform and unbroken surface continuously around the entire circumference of the closure.

8. In combination with a receptacle having an outstanding bead formed exteriorly thereon spaced downwardly from its open upper end and having a series of thread lugs exteriorly in the space between said bead and said upper end said thread lugs having relatively under-surface parts for thread-like engagement by a corresponding number of thread lugs of a closure for said receptacle, said under-surface parts being in opposition to the upper surface of said bead but inclining circumferentially of the receptacle downwardly toward said bead, of a closure for said receptacle having thread lugs to engage said under-surface parts of the receptacle and said thread lugs of the closure each comprising top and bottom wall parts resiliently bendably connected together to yield resiliently toward each other, said top wall parts being adapted to engage said under-surface parts of the receptacle and said bottom wall parts being adapted to engage the upper surface of said bead, and said thread lugs being adapted to be wedged between said under surface parts and said bead to thereby flex said top and bottom wall parts toward each other.

AUGUSTUS L. MEROLLE. 

